Analysis of A Boy Scouts' Patrol Song
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
These are our regulations --
There's just one law for the Scout
And the first and the last, and the present and the past,
And the future and the perfect is "Look out!"
I, thou and he, look out!
We, ye and they, look out!
Though you didn't or you wouldn't
Or you hadn't or you couldn't;
You jolly well must look out!
Look out, when you start for the day
That your kit is packed to your mind;
There is no use going away
With half of it left behind.
Look out that your laces are tight,
And your boots are easy and stout,
Or you'll end with a blister at night.
(Chorus) All Patrols look out!
Look out for the birds of the air,
Look out for the beasts of the field --
They'll tell you how and where
The other side's concealed.
When the blackbird bolts from the copse,
Or the cattle are staring about,
The wise commander stops
And (chorus) All Patrols look out!
Look out when your front is clear,
And you feel you are bound to win.
Look out for your flank and your rear --
That's where surprises begin.
For the rustle that isn't a rat,
For the splash that isn't a trout,
For the boulder that may be a hat
(Chorus) All Patrols look out!
For the innocent knee-high grass,
For the ditch that never tells,
Look out! Look out ere you pass --
And look out for everything else!
A sign mis-read as you run
May turn retreat to a rout --
For all things under the sun
(Chorus) All Patrols look out!
Look out when your temper goes
At the end of a losing game;
When your boots are too tight for your toes;
And you answer and argue and blame.
It's the hardest part of the Low,
But it has to be learnt by the Scout --
For whining and shirking and "jaw"
(Chorus) All Patrols look out!
Scheme | abxbbbccb dedefbfB ghghabxb ijijkbkB lxlxmbmB nonoxbxB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110010 1111101 0010010010001 00100001111 110111 110111 11101110 11101110 1101111 11111101 11111111 11111001 1111101 11111011 01111001 111101011 1010111 11101101 11101101 111101 010101 10101101 101011001 010101 01010111 1111111 01111111 11111011 1101001 101011001 10111001 101011101 1010111 10100111 1011101 1111111 0111101 0111111 1101101 1111001 1010111 1111101 10110101 111111111 011001001 10101101 111111101 11001001 1010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,659 |
Words | 332 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 209 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 110 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Boy Scouts' Patrol Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33108/a-boy-scouts%27-patrol-song>.
Discuss this Rudyard Kipling poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In